Rickard Gustafsson | Saturday, 19 September 2026
In the latest issue of The Loop from Fly Fishers International there is an article about strength training for fly casting. The issue I’m referring to is the issue Summer 2026. I found the article interesting and a lot of useful information. Especially the parts about what muscles that are involved in the casting and also their role in the cast.
One thing the article tells us is that the rotator cuff does very little work when we are casting, with sound technique. These muscles are not force generators, their job could be described as a suction cup that keeps the humerus in its socket. There could still be some need to train in such a way that the rotator cuff gets some work and have found an interesting exercise that should take care of that and then some that could be of interest for the fly caster. I’ll come back to that one later in the FP.
The article also tells us that the muscles that are almost part of the rotar cuff muscles has to work when we are casting. The muscles that controls the movement of the shoulder blade. Mid and lower trapezius and the serratus anterior are the muscles of interest for us helping us to keep the shoulder blade in a depressed position. Why we want that is to keep all of the force when we stop the rod to be handled by the muscles around the elbow. As I have described in more detail in this FP: https://www.sexyloops.com/index.php/ps/the-triceps-and-fly-casting
In that FP I also mentioned a concept that the article in The Loop also came to the conclusion was an important role for the muscles involved in fly casting. The muscles responsible for generating movement in one direction also works hard stopping the movement via eccentric contraction. Would’ve made my understanding of pain we get from fly casting a lot easier if this article was published earlier.
In the article the pectorals major is observed to have significant activation during the forward cast. That is something I also have noted after some distance sessions, the pec at the rod side can be a bit sore. And for the back cast significant activation of the anterior deltoid was noted, with support by the big muscles on the back side, the rear deltoid, latissimus and trapezius. Muscles that would be covered well by a pressing movement and a pulling movement.
There are a number of exercises suggested in the article and in the article it could be interpreted that these are the best exercises for the fly caster. I think it would make more sense to add some of them to an existing exercise programme. As the list looks like a collection of supplementary exercises suggested in other throwing sports. So the list is solid but with one questionmark. The upright row. The muscles worked there are already worked if we already have some pressing and pulling in place. It is an exercise that is often mentioned on lists with exercises with a bad cost benefit ratio. So I don’t see why it ended up on the list. I don’t have a problem with exercise that takes time to build up to as long as the benefit in the end is high. I might be missing something. Maybe it is a good exercise done with light weight to train the movement of the shoulder girdle.
I think it is great with more articles about strength training for fly casting. To help us be able to cast more and stay free from injury. But I don’t agree with the premise that it is lack of strength keeping casters from casting tight loops. And I don’t agree with one of the sources that states that it is lack of strength that someone cannot cast 85 feet with a rod with #7 printed above the handle with an orange 7wt line. I think lack of skill is a much bigger factor than lack of strength for both cases. Well I also don’t agree with that hard blocking or high effort is needed to cast far. https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/1171325618
And if we want to stop the rod hard I think we should look into movement patterns that supports that. https://youtu.be/9i4IDiMAfc8
Great article all in all even if we don't have the same conclusions on how to cast.
So the exercise I mentioned earlier as “the one” for the fly caster:
Why I like it is that it covers a lot of things with one exercise. It is supposed to give the rotator cuff all the work it needs. It trains coordination. And gives the biceps a stretch at the same time. And a biceps stretch is always good for the fly caster.
Tennis elbow is something that has been discussed on the board recently. And elbow pain from fly casting is one of my favourite topics. How to cure it and how to prevent it. So whenever I find something about tennis elbow I’m interested. Recently I stumbled upon a video by one of the legendary strength coaches. Mark Rippetoe. So I had to give it a watch. A chin-up protocol to cure both tennis and golfers elbow. Too crazy to not catch my interest. But then I started to think about it and it makes sense. To heal tennis elbow we need to do something. Just resting can feel good for the moment but when we come back the problem will most likely be there. And chin-ups could really help us load the affected area. And that is something that the research seems to support that loading helps the healing. The chin-up protocol might be a bit much to start with. But starting as soon as possible to do something is probably a good idea. More about less brutal methods to get started and the research can be found here:
https://www.sexyloops.com/index.php/ps/fly-casting-elbow-exercises
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One more thing I think the chin-up protocol will give is help increase the mobility. I think it is a combination of what I have suggested for the fly caster previously. Hanging and wide grip curls for shoulder and elbow health:
https://www.sexyloops.com/index.php/ps/one-exercise-to-take-care-of-it-all
https://www.sexyloops.com/index.php/ps/more-exercises-and-self-care-for-the-fly-caster
Even if my elbow to my knowledge is in good condition I had to give the suggested chin-up protocol a go. And I really like it. I think it is beneficial if you have elbow problems and if you don’t. It will force you to work on external rotation of the arm, improve overhead mobility and strength about everything in the back and arm that we want’s to have as fly casters. Maybe just add the eccentric triceps training and some push-ups or dips as suggested in one of the articles above and in: https://www.sexyloops.com/index.php/ps/the-triceps-release-protocol
Cheers, Rickard
PS the Loop article in question can be found here.
PoD: Casting in Bellingham by Chris Avery